Deck 14: Energy From Fossil Fuels

Question 1

Although considerable variation exists around the world,globally the percent of fossil fuels that are used for the primary energy supply is more than

A)85%
B)60%
C)50%
D)35%

Answer 1

85%

Question 2

In the world today,

A)coal is still the dominant fuel.
B)coal has largely been replaced by natural gas for energy supplies.
C)natural gas remains the dominant fuel in the United States.
D)coal and oil are the primary energy supply in the United States.

Answer 2

coal and oil are the primary energy supply in the United States.

Question 3

Steam powered airplanes

A)were widely used until the 1970s,when jet fuel prices made other engines more efficient.
B)are impractical because of the low power-to-weight advantage.
C)were used for commercial air travel but were discontinued because of safety regulations.
D)are under development and are expected to be the next phase of jet technology.

Answer 3

are impractical because of the low power-to-weight advantage.

Question 4

The heavy reliance upon coal from the late 1800s through the 1940s was most apparent to anyone standing outside in

A)rural environments far away from cities.
B)large industrialized cities.
C)seaports that relied on fishing.
D)a region that relied on logging and the timber industry.

Question 5

For most of human history,and in developing countries today,the major source of energy has been

A)natural gas.
B)oil.
C)wind.
D)muscle power.

Question 6

The generation of electrical power

A)consumes nearly 75% of the fossil fuels in the United States.
B)has steadily declined over the last 20 years as energy efficient products have come on the market.
C)depends upon a primary energy source such as coal or hydropower.
D)consumes more than half of all the oil used annually by the United States.

Question 7

In the United States today,the most widely used system to generate electricity uses

A)oil to power turbogenerators.
B)natural gas to power turbogenerators.
C)coal to power turbogenerators.
D)water to power hydroturbogenerators.

Question 8

The early Industrial Revolution primarily relied on fossil fuels to

A)run gasoline engines.
B)run power plants that generated electricity.
C)generate steam.
D)generate heat and electricity.

Question 9

Which two fuels are currently used at about equal levels in the United States?

A)water power and nuclear power
B)coal and natural gas
C)coal and oil
D)oil and natural gas

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true or accurate about the Deepwater Horizon event of 2010?

A)The event affected only the deep water marine life.
B)The cleanup of the spill was relatively fast because the blowout was near the surface.
C)Much of the spill was broken down by bacteria or evaporated from the water's surface.
D)This was the first large-scale spill of crude oil into marine ecosystems.

Question 11

In the United States from the Civil War to World War II,the most important fuel was

A)natural gas.
B)coal.
C)wood.
D)oil.

Question 12

Generating electricity with a windmill located next to a home

A)is more efficient than transmitting electricity over long distances.
B)is less efficient than at a distance,because the wind draws heat away from the home.
C)increases the energy lost,according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
D)depends upon a hydroturbogenerator spinning a magnetic field within copper wire.

Question 13

Potential environmental damage results from the harvesting of fossil fuels and

A)the transportation and waste products generated by their use.
B)their transportation and storage.
C)their storage and waste products.
D)the transportation,storage,and waste products generated by their use.

Question 14

A hydroturbogenerator would be found

A)at a hydroelectric dam.
B)at a coal-fired power plant.
C)inside of a wind mill used to generate electricity.
D)in a power plant that uses oil for fuel.

Question 15

The oil spill that destroyed BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 affected all of the following catastrophically,except

A)marine organisms on both the surface and bottom.
B)tourism and fishing economies of the Gulf states.
C)atmospheric and water pollution.
D)agricultural production in the northern parts of the Gulf states.

Question 16

Judging by the graph in the figure,if you were going to purchase stock in U.S.companies that generate power in the United States,where would you least likely expect to see future growth?

A)nuclear power plants
B)hydroelectric dams
C)power plants using coal
D)power plants using natural gas

Question 17

People living in cities from the late 1850s through at least the 1930s,often

A)used electricity generated by oil and natural gas fuels.
B)purchased wood to heat their homes.
C)suffered respiratory diseases.
D)rode on trains that were powered by natural gas.

Question 18

In the 1900s,fuel efficiency in transportation greatly increased when engines were converted from

A)natural gas to coal and steam.
B)oil to coal and steam.
C)coal and steam to gasoline.
D)natural gas to gasoline.

Question 19

The most cleanly burning fossil fuel available that produces the least pollutants is

A)coal,usually found in deposits deep within the Earth.
B)kerosene,found in deposits associated with oil wells.
C)natural gas,usually found in deposits associated with oil.
D)nuclear energy,produced from rocks and minerals within the Earth.

Question 20

Which of the following is a major fossil fuel that has benefited from the recent construction of pipelines within the United States?

A)oil
B)natural gas
C)coal
D)nuclear energy

Question 21

Which one of the following energy sources is most likely to lead to thermal pollution?

A)a coal-fired power plant
B)a large field of windmills
C)a hydroelectric plant
D)a large field of solar cells

Question 22

The large peak in electrical generation from 2000-2005 represents the availability of large new amounts of

A)natural gas and renewable energy resources.
B)coal.
C)nuclear power.
D)hydroelectric power.

Question 23

The most sustainable way to drive a car would be to use

A)an all-electric car using electricity from a windmill or solar photocells.
B)an all-electric car using electricity from any power supply.
C)a hydrogen fuel cell using hydrogen produced by a nuclear power plant.
D)a hybrid electric car that generates electricity when slowing down.

Question 24

The large structures in this photograph are

A)smokestacks from a coal-fired power plant.
B)special wind turbines that capture swirling wind to produce electricity.
C)towers used to cool water heated by a coal-fired power plant.
D)combustion chambers used to burn natural gas to generate electricity.

Question 25

Examine the changes in electrical demand in the United States.The daily drop in electrical consumption is most closely associated with

A)people heading off to work.
B)people sleeping.
C)home heating and cooling systems.
D)daytime activities that consume little energy.

Question 26

Fossil fuels are considered non-renewable sources of energy because

A)their formation is so slow.
B)they release carbon dioxide when they are burned.
C)people are cutting down too many forests to allow trees to turn into coal.
D)carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are too low to allow fossil fuels to form.

Question 27

Oil production is a misnomer for the process used by oil companies because

A)the oil reserves may not be as large as expected.
B)the oil was produced hundreds of millions of years ago.
C)much of the oil is found in other forms,such as tar and natural gas.
D)most oil is produced by drilling deeply into the Earth.

Question 28

The greatest demand for electricity would occur in homes in Georgia

A)about noon during a hot summer Wednesday.
B)at night during a hot summer Saturday.
C)about noon during a cold winter Wednesday.
D)at night during a cold winter Saturday.

Question 29

Which of the following would be expected to have the greatest impact in reducing the demand for electric-power-generating plants in the United States?

A)installing very efficient geothermal systems to cool homes in the summer
B)increasing the number of hybrid electrical cars in the United States
C)adopting policies that promote salmon migrations by removing dams
D)requiring companies to turn off all lights on weekends when nobody is working

Question 30

A blackout like the eight-state blackout of 2003 could be prevented by

A)using energy efficient lights in most businesses.
B)a self-healing smart electrical grid.
C)switching from coal to natural gas for electrical generation.
D)greater use of electricity during the work week instead of weekends.

Question 31

More oil can be expected from a P50 of a 100 million barrel field than from an oil field with a

A)P70 for a 100 million barrel field.
B)P95 for a 90 million barrel field.
C)P40 for a 200 million barrel field.
D)P10 for a 150 million barrel field.

Question 32

Wood pellets are produced from the waste sawdust of lumber and paper mills.Home-heating stoves burning these pellets can heat homes directly,instead of relying on other energy sources.Heating your home with wood pellets is

A)sustainable,less polluting,and more efficient than heating a home using electricity from a coal-fired power plant.
B)sustainable,much more polluting,and is about 30% more efficient than using electricity from a coal-fired power plant.
C)not sustainable but is less polluting and is about as efficient as using electricity from a coal-fired power plant.
D)not sustainable and actually pollutes more than using electricity from a coal-fired power plant.

Question 33

Instead of only generating more electricity,rising energy demands may also be met by

A)switching from natural gas to coal.
B)switching from coal and natural gas to windmills and solar technologies.
C)increasing the efficiency of energy consumption.
D)using more nuclear power instead of fossil fuels.

Question 34

The future use of electricity to power personal transportation largely depends on

A)more efficient turbogenerators.
B)finding more fossil fuel supplies.
C)low-cost,lightweight batteries that can store large amounts of power.
D)the development of small turbogenerators for automobiles.

Question 35

Fossil fuels represent

A)a large amount of paleozoic and mesozoic biomass buried anaerobically millions of years ago.
B)natural deposits of organic materials that formed long before life on Earth evolved.
C)the remains of fossil animals that lived a few thousand years ago.
D)sustainable sources of energy that are underused today.

Question 36

Judging from the data in the figure,if we wanted to decrease petroleum consumption and concentrate on more efficient technology,the sector we would select is

A)residential.
B)commercial.
C)industrial.
D)transportation.

Question 37

In the United States in 2012,we produce about 1 barrel of oil for every

A)barrel of oil we export.
B)barrel of oil we import.
C)two barrels of oil we import.
D)ten barrels of oil we import.

Question 38

If we wanted to improve the efficiency of technology to reduce electrical power consumption,the sectors we would choose are

A)industrial and transportation.
B)residential and commercial.
C)commercial and industrial.
D)residential and transportation.

Question 39

As demands for electricity push the limits of existing electric-power-generating plants in the United States,when is it most likely that a brown-out or blackout will disrupt electricity to your home computer?

A)during a weekend in the winter
B)during a weekday in the winter
C)during a weekend in the summer
D)during a weekday in the summer

Question 40

Most oil is recovered from an oil field

A)by relying on the natural pressure of the system.
B)by simply pumping it out of the ground.
C)only after using secondary or enhanced procedures that first generate pressure.
D)by pumping freshwater into the ground and making the oil float to the top.

Question 41

Today,about 40% of the U.S.importation of oil comes from

A)Saudi Arabia.
B)Afghanistan and Iraq.
C)the Western Hemisphere,especially Canada.
D)China.

Question 42

Based upon the history of oil prices,the best time to own a very fuel efficient automobile

A)was before 1973.
B)was in the 1990s.
C)was in 2009.
D)is now.

Question 43

The use of enhanced recovery by an oil company

A)primarily depends upon the current market price of oil.
B)is usually more cost effective than recovering oil using secondary recovery.
C)has not yet been used because oil reserves remain abundant.
D)is now routine,as every bit of oil is extracted from all available wells.

Question 44

Over the past 40 years,interests in energy conservation have

A)paralleled increases in computer technology.
B)largely paralleled the price of oil.
C)decreased as alternate forms of energy have become available.
D)dwindled as interests in world hunger have risen.

Question 45

In the 1990s,interests in oil production and energy conservation

A)peaked,but they have declined in the years since.
B)were growing with renewed investments in windmills and solar technology.
C)resulted in additional drilling for oil and mining of coal reserves.
D)were low,following the decline in oil prices.

Question 46

Increased reliance upon oil imports have generally paralleled

A)increased interest and involvement in Middle East politics.
B)increased interest in fighting global hunger.
C)decreased reliance on other fossil fuels.
D)decreased efforts to explore alternate forms of fuel.

Question 47

Oil exploration in North America

A)has been more intensely explored than any other continental landmass.
B)is yielding new sources that are slowly reducing the percentage of oil that must be imported.
C)is finding new reserves at increasingly higher success rates for each exploratory drilling event.
D)is no longer cost-effective and has been discontinued since the early 1970s.

Question 48

If alternate fuels for vehicles could be sustainably and efficiently obtained by growing plants in the United States,we would expect

A)more jobs for U.S.citizens.
B)an increase in the balance-of-payment deficit.
C)another U.S.economic recession.
D)more oil would need to be pumped from offshore oil wells.

Question 49

Because of the challenges associated with removing oil from the ground,

A)the first oil removed from a well is the most expensive to extract.
B)primary recovery of oil is more expensive than secondary recovery.
C)enhanced recovery of oil is more expensive than secondary recovery.
D)only about 60% of the oil in a well can be removed by just pumping.

Question 50

The gap between oil production and consumption in the United States is generally

A)staying about the same.
B)widening.
C)shrinking.
D)shifting without a clear pattern that seems to relate to prices.

Question 51

If oil demands continue,the United States will likely increase its importation of oil from

A)OPEC and the Middle East.
B)China.
C)Russia.
D)the Western Hemisphere.

Question 52

An oil shortage in 1973 was mainly the result of

A)increased reliance on foreign oil and global politics.
B)increased reliance on foreign oil and the law of supply and demand.
C)a ban on offshore exploration in the United States.
D)global prosperity and demand for oil globally.

Question 53

The basic strategy of the OPEC cartel is to

A)assure that developed nations get as much crude as oil as they need.
B)give priority to developing nations who want to use oil to boost industrial progress.
C)produce all their proven reserves as quickly as possible to keep prices and demand high.
D)control production and keep the market price as high as possible without discouraging major buyers.

Question 54

In 2012,following the great recession of 2008 and 2009,

A)oil prices dropped but can be expected to increase as the economy recovers.
B)oil prices dropped and may remain low as the economy recovers.
C)oil prices increased and can be expected to increase further as the economy recovers.
D)oil prices increased but can be expected to decrease as the economy recovers.

Question 55

The Hubbert peak accurately predicted

A)maximum U.S.oil consumption in 1972.
B)maximum U.S.oil consumption continuing to climb through today.
C)maximum U.S.oil production about 1970.
D)maximum U.S.oil production about 1995.

Question 56

About fifteen years after the 1973 oil crisis,

A)the consumption of oil in the United States doubled.
B)U)S.automobiles were no more fuel efficient than before.
C)world oil production exceeded consumption and prices fell sharply.
D)world oil prices skyrocketed.

Question 57

The construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline and requirements for more fuel efficient automobiles resulted from

A)the 1970 oil crises.
B)the Gulf War.
C)increased trade with China.
D)a large shift from the use of coal to oil to generate electricity.

Question 58

Since the 1980s,the United States has

A)increased its oil discoveries and production and today imports about 35% of its oil.
B)seen its oil production keep pace with consumption.
C)been steadily consuming more oil and producing less,importing 68% of its oil.
D)improved the efficiency of its technology and now imports no foreign oil.

Question 59

Oil production in Alaska

A)peaked in 1985 and has declined steadily ever since.
B)continues to increase as new oil fields are added.
C)has remained steady ever since the construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline.
D)has ended and has been completely replaced by natural gas production.

Question 60

Wars in the Middle East region in the past two decades have been associated with increased

A)efforts to stop global terrorism wherever it exists in the world.
B)demand for natural gas.
C)U)S.interests in Middle East oil.
D)interest in resolving the Palestinian Israeli border disputes.

Question 61

Over the next 20-30 years,

A)global oil supplies will decline and the OPEC nations will gain importance.
B)global oil supplies will decline and the OPEC nations will lose importance.
C)global oil supplies will increase and the OPEC nations will gain importance.
D)global oil supplies will increase and the OPEC nations will lose importance.

Question 62

In the southern Appalachian Mountains,hundreds of miles of streams and freshwater systems are destroyed in the process of

A)stream mining,in which oil buried under the streams is harvested.
B)mountaintop removal mining to remove coal.
C)diverting water to run coal machines in mines deep below the Earth.
D)moving coal from deep shaft mines to major rivers.

Question 63

The EROI system of evaluating energy exploitation from various sources is based upon

A)the market price of the energy involved.
B)the environmental damage likely to be caused by the extraction process.
C)the ratio of energy extracted to energy invested in the extraction process.
D)the amount of heat produced by using a unit of the energy in question.

Question 64

Natural gas

A)can be converted to a liquid synthetic oil costing only slightly more per barrel than conventional oil.
B)can be transported only in gas form,making the movement of natural gas over oceans impossible.
C)may help extend the oil economy by several decades.
D)cannot be used to power automobiles or public transportation.

Question 65

Which of the following will increase the US demand for foreign oil?

A)increasing the fuel efficiency of our transportation systems
B)developing alternatives to fossil fuels
C)decreasing the price of a gallon of gas
D)using natural gas to power personal and public transportation

Question 66

In the United States,the greatest environmental destruction results from the harvesting of

A)oil.
B)natural gas.
C)coal.
D)timber.

Question 67

At the current rates of use,the United States has enough coal to last the next

A)20 years.
B)40 years.
C)100 years.
D)230 years.

Question 68

The process of fracking involves

A)using underground explosives to break up gas-rich shale deposits.
B)processes that are under the regulation of the 2005 Safe Drinking Water Act.
C)using coal and petroleum as a chemical basis for producing natural gas.
D)using high-pressure fluids to fracture gas-rich shale deposits far underground.

Question 69

Most analyses of world oil reserves and current demands indicate that short of some amazing new oil field discoveries,maximum global production of oil

A)peaked in the 1970s.
B)peaked in 1998.
C)is peaking right now.
D)will peak in the next 10-15 years.

Question 70

The United States represents about 4.5% of the world's population,yet we consume about

A)5% of the world's oil supply.
B)15% of the world's oil supply.
C)25% of the world's oil supply.
D)50% of the world's oil supply.

Question 71

Extracting oil from shale deposits

A)has been initiated on a large scale in the United States and will soon surpass Canada's production.
B)involves removing and refining waxy hydrocarbons called kerogen.
C)in the United States will take place mostly in northeast states as well as in Georgia and Florida.
D)in the United States has been studied by the EPA and found not to endanger ground water supplies.

Question 72

Currently,the greatest supply of natural gas in the United States is

A)associated with petroleum deposits.
B)in gas-rich shale.
C)obtained by chemically converting petroleum into methane.
D)in deposits of coal lying under Arizona and California.

Question 73

Which of the following is true or accurate about oil shale?

A)Canada is now producing 500 million barrels of shale-derived oil per year mostly for sale to the U.S.
B)Canada is contemplating large scale oil shale extraction once the price is competitive with other sources of oil.
C)The United States has refused to consider a transcontinental pipeline from Canada because of potential environmental damage.
D)The Canadian oil shale mining program will continue to operate with minimal environmental impact.

Question 74

More than any other energy source,China and the United States use

A)coal to generate electricity.
B)water power to generate electricity.
C)nuclear plants to generate electricity.
D)natural gas to generate electricity.

Question 75

The year 2008 revealed one of the risks of continued reliance on oil,when

A)52% of the oil refineries in the United States had to shut down.
B)the Alaskan pipeline ruptured,reducing oil supplies in the United States by 37%.
C)gasoline prices reached new highs.
D)shipments of oil from overseas were reduced by 46%.

Question 76

Natural gas

A)used in automobiles produces more pollutants than gasoline.
B)when burned in automobiles,produces only water and no carbon dioxide or other pollutants.
C)reserves in the United States may last many decades,even with increased demand.
D)consumption in the United States is declining as available resources decline.

Question 77

The figure reveals the history of various types of oil and gas production.Based on these data,

A)combined oil and gas production peaked about 2008.
B)most forms of oil production will not peak until 2050.
C)oil production is holding steady.
D)polar oil reserves will pay a major role in the next 20 years.

Question 78

The EROI for domestically produced oil

A)has been growing since the 1930s.
B)is currently close to that of solar photovoltaics and wind.
C)is much less than for tar sands.
D)makes a good argument for not funding development of renewable energy.

Question 79

Because of the abundance of natural gas in the United States,we should expect to see

A)more gas-powered vehicles and industries.
B)further decreases in the price of petroleum.
C)many more U.S.LNG terminals planned and constructed.
D)an increase in greenhouse gases as we shift away from coal and oil as primary fuels.

Question 80

Carbon reduction and capture and storage systems are currently

A)widely used in power plants that burn oil,natural,gas,and coal.
B)not possible with available technology.
C)costly and experimental,but promising.
D)only available for power plants that burn natural gas.